Revenue collected through TISS up by over 12 per cent
Acting Dar port manager Hebel Mhanga (holding microphone) addresses journalists and officials from the Tanzania Revenue Authority, Bank of Tanzania, Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport during a joint news conference on the extension of TISS working hours to support round-the-clock operations at the port yesterday. PHOTO | SAID KHAMIS
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Tansactions totalled Sh6.2 trillion in six months, a 12.7 per cent increase from Sh5.5 trillion which were obtained in six months before the introduction of TISS
Dar es Salaam. Collection of revenue through the Tanzania Inter-bank Settlement System (TISS) has improved by 12.7 per cent during the past six months, thanks to an extension of hours in which the system operates.
The director of National Payment Systems at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Mr Bernard Dadi, said yesterday that the bank in February extended TISS working hours from five hours to 12 hours to keep pace with port improvement plans.
With such extension, the system enabled transactions worth Sh6.2 trillion in six months a 12.7 per cent increase from Sh5.5 trillion which were obtained in six months before the introduction of TISS.
The aim is to improve the performance of the Dar es Salaam Port which will enhance government revenue collection and money transfers and improve efficiency in cargo handling.
“With the system, taxpayers have enough time to make interbank transactions which facilitates real time transactions and gross settlement of payment instruction between banks,” said Mr Dadi.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Mr Gabriel Migire, said TISS improves efficiency in the payment system by eliminating the settlement time lag for high volume and time sensitive payments. “Since the settlement of taxes with TRA must also go through TISS, the extension of working hours will relieve all bank customers from rushing to the banks,” said Mr Migire.
Earlier, Tanzania Revenue Authority Commissioner for Customs and Excise, Tiagi Kabisi said that his authority has also extended working hours to rhyme with the new system.
“TRA has started and will continue to process tax transactions beyond the normal working hours for the port of Dar es Salaam,” said Mr Kabisi.
Tanzania Ports Authority welcomes the extension of TISS system as a game-changer in efforts to decongest the Dar es Salaam port.
Acting port manager Hebel Mhanga urged port users, especially cargo clearing agents, to use the system as it is meant to make their operations effective in terms of time and costs.
“We urge our stakeholders to keep pace with changes at the port so that they also start to operate around the clock. They should also take advantage of the newly introduced integrated electronic payment system for all port payments,” said Mr Mhanga.
